2012 Mock Class: 1st Edition
Michigan got an early start on many teams in recruiting, not only in the Big Ten but around the country. But with school over or ending soon for many athletes, 7-on-7 camps and visits have begun, and that means a lot of recruiting news will be flowing in over the next few weeks.
Right now Michigan is sitting at 12 known [Ed-M: and one known unknown /Rummy] verbal commitments. The coaches are recruiting for a class of up to 25 signees, and anything is possible at this point.
Every month or so I’ll post a mock cla
ss, and though this is my best-guess list, it is far from accurate or guaranteed.
Here is the 1st edition. Feel free to comment or question!
Edit: I know the rivals ratings haven’t come out, but if these players under 4-stars are less than 3’s I’ll eat my shoe.
Pos. | Name | Location | Height | Weight | 40 time | Stars | Offers | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
QB | Tyler O’Connor | Lima, Ohio | 6'3 | 200 lbs | 4.7 | 3* | BC, BGSU, UC, Illinois, MSU, Toledo, Vanderbilt | Solid prospect. Michigan coaches watched him throw, may jump on an offer |
WR | Durron Neal | St. Louis, Missouri | 6'1 | 195 lbs | 4.57 | 4* | Alabama, Ark, UC, GT, Kansas, K-St, MSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, ND, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC | Michigan was a very late offer, but piqued his interest. Need to get him on campus. |
TE | A.J. Williams | Cincinnati, Ohio | 6'6 | 260 lbs | 4.9 | 3* | Ark, BC, Illinois, Louisville, MSU, NC St, WVU | Committed 4/22. Blocking TE, possible tackle? |
TE | Devin Funchess | Farmington Hills, MI | 6'5 | 205 lbs | n/a | 3* | BGSU, UC, Illinois, MSU, Mizzou, Nebraska, UVA | Committed 4/22. Receiving TE/U-back. |
OL | Jordan Diamond | Chicago, IL | 6'6 | 289 | n/a | 4* | AZ, Ark, FSU, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, MSU, Ole Miss, ND, OSU, UT, WVU, Wiscy. | Teammate of ‘11 commit Chris Bryant. Great LT prospect. Michigan leads, decision soon? |
OL | Chris Muller | Boyertown, PA | 6'6 | 287 | n/a | 4* | BC, Uconn, Florida, MSU, ND, PSU, Pitt, Rutgers, WVU, UVA | Penn State had an early lead, but planning a summer visit to Michigan. Likes Mallory and Funk. |
OL | Caleb Stacey | Cincinnati, Ohio | 6'4 | 275 lbs | n/a | 3* | BGSU, BC, UC, Illinois, Indiana, NC St, Toledo, Wake | 3/26 commit. Plays tackle for a great program, mauler. Will be solid guard at UM. |
OL | Erik Magnuson | Carlsbad, CA | 6'6 | 275 lbs | n/a | 4* | AZ, BC, Cal, Miami (YTM), ND, Oklahoma, Oregon, USC | Huge recruit. National prospect. Really likes Funk and Hoke is recruiting him. Official to Michigan in fall. |
OL | Ben Braden | Rockford, MI | 6'6 | 285 lbs | n/a | 3* | MSU, Wiscy | 3/24 commit. One of the top programs in state, first year at RT. Great potential. |
DE | Pharaoh Brown | Lyndhurst, OH | 6'6 | 220 lbs | n/a | 4* | ASU, BC, CU, MSU, Neb, UNC, NC St, Oregon, Pitt, WVU, many. | Committed 5/7. QB and DE on HS team, raw but great athlete. |
DE | Mario Ojemudia | Farmington Hills, MI | 6'3 | 215 lbs | 4.7 | 3* | CMU, Illinois, MSU, Iowa, Mizzou, Stanford | 5/07 commit. Looks like an LB, freakish speed off the edge. |
DE/DT | Matt Godin | Detroit, MI | 6'5 | 250 lbs | 5.0 | 3* | BC, Buffalo, Duke, Illinois, MSU, Mizzou, Syracuse, Wisconsin | 5/12 commit. Big bodied athlete, may be a DT (think RVB if not). |
DE | Chris Wormley | Toled, OH | 6'4 | 255 lbs | n/a | 3* (LOL) |
|
Michigan leads. Top 10 player in Ohio. Needs to be a force on defense. May be an OT? |
DT | Ondre Pipkins | Kansas City, Mizzou | 6'3 | 325 lbs | n/a | 4* | Bama, Iowa, Kansas, MSU, Mizzou, Nebraska, UT, OSU | Top flight DT. Hails from Saginaw. Close friend is grad asst at UM. Blowing up nationally. |
DT | Danny O’Brien | Flint, MI | 6'1 | 295 lbs | 5.1 | 4* | Bama, UC, Iowa, MSU, Pitt, UT, Vandy | Vols have an early lead. Best Friends with Matt Godin. Michigan is making up ground, loves coaches. |
DT | Jaleel Johnson | Westchester, Illinois | 6'2 | 277 lbs | n/a | 4* | AZ, BC, Iowa, Minnesota, Iowa, MSU, UT, Toledo, Vandy | MSU, Wiscy, and Iowa lead. But very excited about Mich offer. Need to get him on campus. |
LB | Joe Bolden | Colerain, OH | 6'2 | 225 lbs | n/a | 4* | AZ, BC, UC, UK, UNC, PSU, USF, Stan, UT, Vandy, many. | 4/29 commit. True middle linebacker. Hates ND and OSU? Check. |
LB | James Ross | Orchard Lake, MI | 6'0 | 210 lbs | n/a | 4* | AZ, UC, Illinois, MSU, Nebraska, ND, OSU, PSU, Pitt, USC. | 5/2 commit. Great playmaker. Needs size. Top 3 in state. |
LB | Royce Jenkins-Stone | Detroit, MI | 6'2 | 215 lbs | n/a | 4* | MSU, Florida, USC, Alabama, Mizzou, Oklahoma, want any more? | 4/16 commit. Great athlete, needs to get coached up. Cass Tech product. Top 3 in state. |
LB | Kaleb Ringer | Claymont, OH | 6'0 | 220 lbs | n/a | 3* | UC, Illinois, Iowa, Louisville, Toledo | 4/12 commit. 2nd best LB in Ohio. Nephew of Javon Ringer. Great athlete, not great sized. |
CB/S | Wayne Morgan | Brooklyn, NY | 5'11 | 188 | 4.4 | 4* | Alabama, BC, Maryland, Miami (YTM), PSU, Rutgers | Michigan in top 2 or lead? Announcing June 1st. Great prospect at S or CB. |
CB/S | Anthony Standifer | Crete, Illinois | 6'1 | 175 lbs | n/a | 3* | Akron, BGSU, UC, CSU, Iowa, Minnesota, ND, Cuse, Toledo, WMU | Terrific CB/S combo. Great speed + hips. Michigan first BCS school to offer, 20+ offers. |
CB | Terry Richardson | Detroit, MI | 5'9 | 165 lbs | 4.45 | 4* | Alabama, | 5/19 commit. Cass Tech CB lineage, one of the top corners in country. Top 5 player in state. |
S | Allen Gant | Sylvania, OH | 6'2 | 205 | n/a | 3* | Ball State, BC, UC, Stanford, Toledo, WVU | Son of Tony Gant. Michigan leads. Strong safety type, solid player. |
Total Commitments: 24
At this point I have not included an RB in this class. Until something actually happens to OSU, I believe Brionte Dunn will remain a Buckeye. Michigan has fallen out of Greg Garmon’s top group, and Keith Marshall needs to get on campus for him to even be a possibility. Still, a lot could change.
I’ve only included one receiver as well. I do believe Michigan leads for Aaron Burbidge, but until he is more qualified I don’t want to list him just yet. At this point Michigan’s receiving recruiting is just heating up. I expect them to land a very good player, and maybe another receiver or two with the recent departures and graduation.
As for Ron Thompson, I believe he will be a part of the class. I’ll probably include him in the next edition.
Enjoy!
If Thompson is in, is there any chance it is at WR? I know that seems a bit of a reach but so is taking 3 TE's and 4 DB's when we need depth desperately on both offense and defensive line.
I don't think so. He may get split out at flanker once in a while, but if you've seen pictures of him lately, it looks like he's around 220-230 pounds. He's got the frame to be a good tight end.
I think Thompson is very talented I just thought he may end up a victim of a numbers crunch. This class would be amazing. One less DB, if in fact we do take Thompson.
I think Thompson was too slow to be a WR even when he was in shape during the season, but now he's even bigger and (presumably) slower. He's a tight end or an H-back wherever he goes, IMO.
Thanks, this will be a great regular feature. I think this is what we're always subtley (or not so subtley) asking Tom to do in our reactions to his recruiting updates.
Question: What the heck is up with Danny O'Brien? Are we recruiting him or not? Tom keeps making vague insinuations about his recruitment being "interesting" or "weird." What's going on?
To be honest. I know O'Brien isn't as high on the coaches board as some people think, but I don't think they've stopped recruiting him.
With that said, Michigan is in on a ton of quality DT's. Pipkins, Johnson, Day, there are so many talented guys out there. I think they'll end up with 3 in the class.
I think three is a lot, especially if there's no attrition at the position (aside from Martin's graduation). I also doubt we'll pull in that many highly rated guys even if we do take three.
Excluding a commited guy like Jarron Jones,
Pipkins, Johnson, Day seems like a best case scenario rather than a best guess scenario
another type of mock for me to obsess over instead of doing more productive things...
/s
(Aside: For not as frequent posters/viewers, JC3 is legit on these things. He works with TomVH (I believe) or something to that degree. He knows his stuff, so this isn't just some random dude looking at rivals and posting names.)
I don't see how Michigan gets all 3 of those DTs, and as of now I would say the odd man out is O'Brien. I think he is behind 3 other DT recruits and eventually that will turn him off. I would like Michigan to get Pipkins, Day, and Johnson, because that would be a great group (a group I assume is Michigan's top 3), but that seems unlikely too just because of the caliber of the players.
I think the rest of the list looks pretty good, though I'd be hesitant to include O'Conner.
I guess what I'm saying has to do with Michigan recruits and Irish heritage or something. Unless Ojemudia is Irish, which I would only have to assume is the case...
O'Brien looks like a 3-4 nose tackle to me. I'm not sure he fits what Michigan is trying to do.
I do think Day is the best of the bunch, and would be an outstanding 3 tech. He is extremely explosive off the ball and has good strength.
Johnson I think is the second best, and he looks to me like he could play nose or 3 tech. The big thing with him is he possesses what appears to be a love for physicality, is very aggressive, and seems to have good strength and leverage.
Pipkins seems destined for nose, unless Michigan's staff wants the 3 tech to be more like Will Campbell rather than someone to get pressure on the QB. He still gets too high but is a big body and fairly athletic. His offer list is the best of the bunch though, so there's that.
at the OSU Nike camp. He destroyed everybody. He beat them with speed and/or power and if he plays like that he is by far the best of the bunch. It's all about conditioning with him and he's been improving that since his sub par performance at the all american combine. If Mattison stays true to what he has said there will be no nose as we are playing a four man front.
A lot of people still call the 1 tech a nose because basically they are just shaded. I didn't see the Nike camp, I watched about an hour long thing of game footage. I'm not saying I don't believe you, I just haven't seen it. In the game footage he looked big and decent athletically, but got pushed around a bit, and got destroyed on double teams.
These are things technique can fix, so I still think he is good and has a lot of potential, and if he did well at the Nike camp maybe he is already coming around. I would still like Michigan to land him.
This gives me new names to follow. And by follow, I mean relentlessly google-stalk.
Personally I think this class will be 22 strong. (My opinion is probably less well informed)
I don't know if we will end up taking 4 DB's. I personally think 3 may be it. So, one of them maybe sacrificed.
I also don't know if we will take 3 DT's as pointed out already. With Godin also projecting to DT, it might be a bit much. Personally I'd much rather take a HB/ FB with the one open position. If an elite does not emerge, I'd rather take a true 'target man' WR or another OT (even Boehm at C - if he still has interest in Michigan)
I'm hoping we do load up on the defensive line. Mattison has stated it's the most important position group on the defense and we'll have the four man front now. The d-line also requires more substituting during the game, so I'd like us to establish some quality depth.
I didn't realize that Durron Neal was that interested in Michigan. Any inside info you can share on him? I guess him being in MO we won't hear too much about him. Thanks.
I don't know how interested he is in us. He said in an article that ND and Oklahoma are schools that are recruiting him the hardest.
I'll be honest, I would be pretty darn happy with this if it was the recruiting class we ended up with. Although I'm still not giving up hope on the Gunner, Dunn, Shittu, and Washington MEGA CLASS!
In all seriousness, if we do get Ron Thompson, any chance it causes one of the other TEs already commited to look elsewhere?
I can't see the other TEs looking elsewhere. If anything it might be a Jordan Barnes situation where the coaches stop contacting the recruit and I don't see that happening.
Also, whenever I think of our TE prospects, I think of AJ Williams as being a strong candidate for an offensive tackle spot, as many have alluded to since he committed. Then picking up Ron Thompson would be filling a needed spot while Williams was filling a spot on the OL. I mainly think this way because I would really like to see all three of these guys on the team, but having them all actually PLAY tight end would seemingly make it too crowded.
Out of curiosity, why do you want AJ Williams at OT rather than one of the many highly rated OT propects we have? My problem with moving Williams to tackle and taking Thompson is that we have a lot of tackles we're recruiting that will benefit the team more than Thompson will, IMO. If we take three tackles, and two of them are AJ Williams and Ben Braden, then we only have room for one more of the high end guys we're recruiting. I'd rather keep Williams at TE (since we need a big TE anyway) and fill the OL spots with stud OL recruits.
Plus, I really like the idea of running behind an O-line that has a 6'6" 270lb TE in addition to 5 stud linemen.
I was hoping Williams would end up at OT, mostly b/c our depth there worries me most. And we haven't been in on so many quality OT's so early in a little while.
But yes, I now hope Williams stays as the big blocking TE (who can also catch, but mostly destroys), given we seem primed to pick up a few more elite OT's. With the caveat that Williams will play tackle for his HS this year, IIRC, and may end up an elite OT himself.
I guess it was just a way for me to justify having Ron Thompson on the team, but when you phrase it that way, I would easily much rather have a few of the high 4 star OT we are going after right now than Thompson. As you sort of alluded to, they could potentially have a much bigger impact on the team than someone like Thompson. When I wrote that response, I forgot that we have 5 or more potentially outstanding OT recruits on the board.
I've seen Michael Tyler O'Conner play, and trust me, let Sparty have him. We're better off with someone like Jake Rodrigues.
Sheldon Day is a huge Michigan lean. He's far more likely to end up in this class than Johnson.
Muller and Neal are longshots. Otherwise, looks pretty acurate
To those who are wondering, according to the Scout board, Ron Thompson was involved in an off-field incident and has grade issues, so he probably won't be a Wolverine.
Is O'Conner planning to camp? I know Appleby is, and I wouldn't mind seeing how they stack up side-by-side.
I disagree on one point, though; I still think there is a great chance of a lot of TSIO players decommitting, and one or two of them picking the Maize and Blue. It depends on how soon Tressel leaves and how big SI's projected post-Memorial Day "bombshell" is. I look forward to you having to change this because of a few "surprises" and post it again later.
Better yet, I hope it happens sooner.
It is either they decommit or they never pick osu to begin with. It is actually already happening now. Greg Mcmullen who was considered by many to be a heavy osu lean now has Nebraska as his leader.
The reason is nebraska's adoption of the gold overall charm for every player who beats Michigan
well played
It's always nice having this on one page with a little blurb about each potential recruit it can get tough remembering the statuses of each player and when they are visiting and all that.
I love what you've done and I was going to suggest that you start the listings first by committed then by uncommitted sorted by positions but I realized that might take away the point of making it clear what the class could look like.
Thanks for the work
This is the most rational and realistic projection that I have seen so far..... maybe because it dovetails with my own thinking? Taking three DTs makes sense given our depth chart, and I was happy to see that you feel we have a good shot with O'Brien. The kid is "unblockable" according to Sam Webb and the camp footage I have seen, so if we can get him away from the Vols I'll take him. Pipkins and Day are a dynamic duo, but if we come up short on one of them the other alternatives are solid. With the DBs your inclusion of Gant is spot on, and I see Reeves and Standifer as a toss up for the last spot at this point. O'Connor is the perfect fit at QB; particularly now that we have Morris on board for 2013. I guess the OL spots other than Diamond could be fluid, but you certainly have narrowed them down to the most likely top guys. Methinks we will take a RB and I like Alden Hill a big tailback who could double as a full back - and it doesn't hurt that he is a teamate of Dymonte Thomas.
Once again thanks for a job well done.
Just FYI, for your future edition, but it is Kaleb RInger.
Home town currently = Ojemudia. Just FYI. Thanks for the chart. Very user friendly. Speaking of Mario and looks like a LB comment (which several people have said), if that's his best position on the field, the log jam of LBs in the last 2 classes gets jammier. I guess a better problem to have than the no option depth we've had the past couple of years.
Ondre Pipkens Please!
Naughty by Nature voice)
I'm down with OPP!
So I go to law school at the University of Tennessee and Derek Dooley came to speak to us one day back in the Spring (because he used to be a lawyer). He made a remark about how coaching job security is tough these and made a reference to our yearly progress under RR but he still got fired. I followed that up with a joke/question about why he couldn't just let us (Michigan, I'm not a Vol) have DeAnthony Arnett because we could have really used him. He replied saying that when he leaves the TN radius, it's for a player that's really good and that he really wants. He then followed that up with, "And I'll tell you what, we're gonna get another from Michigan next year." I don't know for sure that he was referring to O'Brien, but I can tell you that the Vols REALLY want him and have had some success recruiting the Midwest--they just picked up Corey Smith from Akron.
All of that is to say that the Vols are definitely showing O'Brien the love, so if Michigan doesn't match it I think he goes to UT.
bolden doesnt hate osu.. he wanted the offer and didnt get it.
burbridge will be ours. saying neal will committ is surprising.. i hope you are right.
and was surprised that reeves isnt on the list, nor zach banner. and that we get jaleel johnson instead of sheldon day. where is day going? ND ?
and i think it wont be muller, but a different OL like banner or dodson.
Do you think our main shot at a WR is Neal over Stanford? We may be in the best position with Burbridge, but that's obviously a different issue.
Also, is taking a QB really necessary? With Morris in '13, Denard for two more years, Gardner hopefully getting his redshirt, and Bellomy in last year's class, we seem to have a pretty solid depth chart at QB
doesnt it just seem scary to not take 1 QB every class?
Yeah.. idk about taking a QB in this class.. With a stud 2013 prospect already in hand, would the schollie be better used somewhere else? I am also pretty high on Bellomy to be honest, and unless we pulled in a stud this year, I feel like we could go with 2 QB's in 2013.
Burbridge, to me, is an instant impact for our team... He has a 13 minute junior year highlight tape of some SILKAY SMOOVE... But in all seriousness, the kid just looks like he has it all at receiver.. route running, hands, speed, jumping.
I totally agree. I know this is an overused saying in sports, but he has "it". He's already technically sound, he pinpoints the ball at its highest point, he knows how to exploit defenses and the kid can flout out catch. I see his film and see a faster Jason Avant.
I wish I could say the same thing about Calvin Johnson, that is, pinpointing the ball at the highest point. Amazing, Johnson rarely does this.
While my wide receiver expertise is basically non-existent, Burbridge's highlight video seemed way more impressive than some of the other targets. I really hope he qualifies and lands in Ann Arbor. We could use some top end speed at the WR position. We don't have many guys that can stretch the field right now.
At first glance, it really looks like a lot of wishful thinking.
BUT--it do seem pretty realistic with the way this staff appears to be able to recruit.
I'd like to see them (alhtough it will be hard with MSU going national HHAHALOLSPARTY) snag some big names from other regions of the country. I know, I know--that's a pretty original thought.
Very impressive. Along with the Wormley lol 3*, I think Funchess and Mario are both underated as 3*s according to rivals.
Wondering why you are so confident about Neal?
Not real confident, as I'm sure the Irish/Oklahoma are up there. But I believe Michigan will land a blue-chip reciever in this class, that's not Burbidge.
Don't worry, we won't steal your recruits.. yet.
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